


Rekindling

by hollowolfpup



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, I mean it's mostly hurt rn but it'll get better soon, I think in either the next chapter or the chapter after, Post-Canon, but by god they WILL kiss sooner or later, it'll be galolio eventually, the promare returns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollowolfpup/pseuds/hollowolfpup
Summary: At some point he’d begun to sleep soundly through the nights, the creaks and groans of the apartment he and Galo shared had become a comfort in the middle of the night. No more waking up to every sound for fear of danger, no more staying awake as long as he could until Guiera scolded him into sleeping. He thought, when it started, maybe he could live like this for a while. Last night, a year and a half after the Second World Burn, he’d found himself thinking that he didn’t want it to end at all.But last night… Last night felt like it was ages ago. Things had seemed simpler last night. Where he stood now Lio feared for that sweet simplicity. Feared the loss of it, for he could only see it coming to a harsh end now.Fire.Those familiar pink-blue flames danced around him and Remi, the latter watching with surprised fascination. Lio regarded it with…With what?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Dancing Flames / Sudden Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> Holy heCK. I watched Promare last Sunday, and honestly I just haven't been the same since. 
> 
> Also rip to Remi being just a set piece in this fic. Also Galo just there to remind you that Lio always likes to know where he is. I'll be nicer to Remi later he's just fun to dunk on. Are there Remi stans I should apologize to for that?? i'm sorry Remi stans he just looks like he needs to be shoved in a locker.

Fire had shaped Lio’s life, turned it into a hectic and sometimes frightening experience. The loss of the Promare had taken a heavy toll on him, though he didn’t like to admit it. His Burnish identity vanished under him, like the struggles of his life were for nothing at all. The fire that he lived with, that burned in him, burned around him was gone. 

He didn't like to be seen struggling amid this shift in identity, the Burnish still needed his strength, his reliability in the face of the world. It wouldn’t change over night, he  _ needed _ to be there for them. Needed to stand up for them. If he didn’t, who would? So he took on everything he could, from conversations and debates, to days preparing breakfasts and lunches for Burnish, old and young alike. And slowly, so slowly, the world seemed to change. Just a little at first, then noticeably. Things weren’t perfect, Lio thought they might never be, but the changes were undeniable. 

And somewhere along the way he’d noticed… The world hadn’t been the only thing to change. 

At some point he’d begun to sleep soundly through the nights, the creaks and groans of the apartment he and Galo shared had become a comfort in the middle of the night. No more waking up to every sound for fear of danger, no more staying awake as long as he could until Guiera scolded him into sleeping. He thought, when it started, maybe he could live like this for a while. 

Last night, a year and a half after the Second World Burn, he’d found himself thinking that he didn’t want it to end at all. 

But last night…

Last night felt like it was ages ago. Things had seemed simpler last night. 

Where he stood now Lio feared for that sweet simplicity. Feared the loss of it, for he could only see it coming to a harsh end now. 

_ Fire. _

Those familiar pink-blue flames danced around him and Remi, the latter watching with surprised fascination. Lio regarded it with…

With what?

He couldn’t decide in his head what he felt. Fear? Disappointment?

_ Excitement? _

The flames felt different from the way he remembered them. It felt joyous and cheerful, a weight that they once carried was gone, now they felt light as they burned close to him. Like, the fires themself had let go of deep grief in their absence from this world. 

_ You look worried Mister. _ A silent voice seemed to say to him, startling Lio more than he wanted to admit to himself.  _ Don’t worry! We’ll fix it for you if you want.  _

The flames drew closer to him and Lio reached out to them, forgetting the Burning Rescue Mech he was in entirely in the moment. For a moment, all that existed was his Burnish Flare, the familiar feelings as he called on them to obey his will. 

_ Lio- _

Remi’s voice was distant from him, but still  _ there.  _ Somewhere… somewhere, but not near enough. He could only think to reach out, closer to those sparks-

And the flames began to shift from warm pink to that cool blue. Protective flames that spread out to the beams and supports, repairing them to a fashion that they could be fixed safely later. Flames drew closer to Remi’s mech, too, cracks to his visor began to mend, leaving only a few dents in the metal and a small hole to the side of his face. 

Lio looked up and watched the ceiling repair itself overhead and could see Galo on the upper floor. He wondered what Galo thought about this. Thought it until the ceiling was repaired and the wisps of flame began to filter out of the room and vanish, leaving himself and Remi to their thoughts.


	2. Familiar Warmth / Echoing Sentiments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, at least the world isn’t being set on fire again.” Guiera added from the oven. “Why do you think that is?”
> 
> “Plot convenience.” Lio shoots back. He stares down into the dishwater and sees it boiling around his hands. 
> 
> “Lio what does that even mean?” Meis asks, it sounded snappy but was said with a grin on his face. 
> 
> The energy in the room was ever changing, a flickering flame that would blaze and burn out and then pick up again. Lio couldn’t see it but he was sure Meis’ shoulders sagged at the sight of him. 
> 
> Under the weight of what they all had in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. I meant to have this out last week but alas. I got anxious about my writing and didn't do it!
> 
> This one feels a little short to me, but all and all I enjoy it. I hope you will too!
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated, and hopefully I'll get this updated next Sunday instead of in two weeks.

At some point upon their return from the site Lio had begun playing with his flames, a sort of thoughtless refamiliarization. With the shock of its reappearance gone, Lio found some comfort in the back and forth of the wisp that floated around his fingers. It was like the year he spent without The Promare was a bad dream and this was the reality he awoke to in the morning. 

But the Promare…

**“It’s different from before.”** He said to the rest of Burning Rescue from the open cockpit of his Mech. Ignis and Aina looked up at him, Galo had already been watching him and Varys seemed distracted by whatever he and Lucia were working on. Remi was at the hospital and Lio felt _very_ uncomfortable suddenly with half the room’s eyes on him. He let the flame vanish and hoped that maybe the statement could just get ignored. 

_Of course_ that would never happen, but Lio could hope none the less.

**“You can’t leave us hanging.”** Lucia prodded at him like she always did, and Lio resigned himself to his fate. **“What do you mean, different?”**

It’s different… different. 

It’s _different._

He couldn’t express it, not to Lucia. Maybe not to Non-Burnish at all. Not _yet,_ anyway. 

**“Not sure.”** Lio replied, but it felt like a lie when he did. He _knew_ it was different. It felt different. But to explain that, to verbalize it? He extended his arm to call the flame back to his hand, it flickered in it’s odd colors and floated harmlessly where he willed it. 

**“It’s familiar, but it’s like it’s grown, or…”** Lio pauses. **“It’s… Learned? It’s** **_just_ ** **different. It’s the same Promare, but it’s changed somehow.”**

Lucia watched him, a curious expression working across her face. Was she trying to understand? 

_Changed, but familiar._

That kept going through his head. 

_Familiar._ An important part of his identity. The fire that shaped his life. He pulled his arm back, dismissed the Promare flames once again as he closed his fist around it. 

_Familiar..._

**“You sure are brooding a lot for a guy who just got a part of himself back.”** Galo teased from across the room. 

_Brood-_

**"I'm not, and** **_was not_ ** **brooding."** Lio shoots back. 

**"You sure?"** Galo asks. **"You seem pretty broody up there to me."** Galo smiles an aggravating sort of smile. Teasing and affectionate- The kind of way Galo smiled when he _knew_ he’d get the last word. He’d won their bantering and now Lio had no other options left.

**"I'm not brooding, and I'll prove it."** Lio sits up and jumps down from his cockpit. He took off his Burning Rescue jacket and hung it up on his way out. 

**"What are you doing?"** Ignis asks with a raise of his eyebrow.

**"I'm going to socialize. Brooding men don't socialize."** Lio pauses at the doorway, turns his upper body to make his comment and then disappears past it. He doesn't hear it, but he's certain that Lucia lowered her head back to her work, sighed and said, _He’s brooding._

* * *

The bell rang above the bakery’s door, Meis was the first thing Lio saw as he entered the establishment, jokingly called _The Gaykery_ by Galo. Meis looked about as tired as Lio felt, when their eyes met Meis motioned him back behind the counter and into the kitchen. The kitchen was the same kind of mess it always was when Lio came here. He didn’t think twice and got to work on the dishes Meis and Guiera had yet to clean.

Lio inhaled and opened his mouth to speak… But the words just didn’t come out. What he wanted to say felt impossible to say. Or, _maybe_ he just didn’t want to say it. _Maybe_ it all still felt unreal, and if he didn’t say it out loud it would stop being real. 

It felt like every second his feelings shifted, one moment he would grow accustomed to the familiar warmth of the Promare. The next… 

Familiar. Familiar. 

(It’s always back to that word. _Familiar,_ everything is _familiar._ )

( _Everything is-)_

**“The Promare’s back?”** Meis says, and Lio can’t tell if it’s a statement or a question.

**“We were at a site. When’d you both find out?”**

**“I was making** **_bread._ ** **”** Guiera said from the oven where he was making… Actually, Lio couldn’t tell _what_ he was making. Still bread, probably. How he still has the dough to make bread this late in the day, or _why_ he was still doing it was beyond Lio. But it was probably bread. 

Then Guiera breathed in, a sharp intake of air that Lio _knew_ meant he was going to get loud. And he _smiled._ Guiera had changed, he’s grown from their days in Mad Burnish but some things remained the same. He was loud, and he always would be.

**“I almost burned it! A** **_perfectly_ ** **good loaf, almost ruined because I was a little testy about a rude customer.”** Guiera scoffed and pulled himself away from the brickwood stove he’s been baking in. 

**“Usually people toast bread slices, but toasting the whole thing certainly gets the job done.”** Guiera stares him down across the room and Lio takes it as a victory as he once again lowers his head to return to his dishes. **“Have either of you heard from the other Burnish yet?”**

**“Nothing today. I was hoping you did.”** Meis replies from another counter. When Lio glanced over he noticed that Meis was putting together a plate of sweets. Each one was, you guessed it, familiar. He knew at a glance who had ordered it. It was a small assortment, like it was something that was all meant for one person. 

Lio’s heart sank and he turned back to his own work.

**“Well, at least the world isn’t being set on fire again.”** Guiera added from the oven. **“Why do you think that is?”**

**“Plot convenience.”** Lio shoots back. He stares down into the dishwater and sees it boiling around his hands. 

**“Lio what does that even** **_mean?”_ ** Meis asks, it sounded snappy but was said with a grin on his face. 

The energy in the room was ever changing, a flickering flame that would blaze and burn out and then pick up again. Lio couldn’t see it but he was sure Meis’ shoulders sagged at the sight of him. 

Under the weight of what they all had in mind.

That flickering flame had begun to burn low, the energy was flatlining and left them to the unspoken melancholy of their situation. 

**“Are we gonna be okay?”** Lio looked up to watch Guiera as he spoke, bent over the counter he set his latest loaf of bread on. 

**“Don’t** **_say things_ ** **like that, Guiera.”** Meis is quieter now, the only thing that betrayed his feelings.

Lio pulls his hands from the water and shakes them over the sink. He reaches for the dish cloth but finds his hands are already dry before he can touch it. 

**“We’re all thinking it Meis! Other people have noticed by now- The site Lio was on got televised. Burnish going about their days will learn about their powers coming back with the rest of the public-”**

Lio had been trying _not_ to think of the cameras he saw when he and Remi left the building. He wanted to _forget_ them. They weren’t real- not if he didn’t notice them. 

**“Lio’s flames repaired the building, it’ll be fine, Guie.”**

**“They still think he’s a terrorist! It doesn’t matter what he’s done now, it matters what he-”**

Lio didn’t know why, but his legs gave out underneath him. His chest ached, his head spun and his old friends were quickly at his side again.

Lio shut his eyes and tried to ground himself with the tight grip of familiar hands on his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> This is quite honestly just self indulgence to the tenth degree. I like the Promare and I wanted it to come back, and from the looks of the fandom I'm not alone on that. 
> 
> Things are prolly gonna be a little heavy in this fic for a few chapters, but pretty soon we'll get to a point where I get to write stupid character interactions and sometimes explore the logistics of the Promare coming back and what that means for the world. But hey, this time it's with 100% less spontaneous human combustion. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it, go easy on me I've been in this fandom for a week. 
> 
> Blame Choripancita for this because it's their fault I'm in this hell. Also they named the fic for me because I'm big dumb. Thank u cho.
> 
> I have a few more parts in the works / needing revisions but idk when they'll come out. I might aim for once a week and see how it goes? But i'm sure my work days and just not being neurotypical enough will interfere sooner or later. 
> 
> I have no idea how long this is going to go on for. I have no end goal in mind, just. Exploring the universe and characters really.


End file.
